1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hybrid vehicle and a control method thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, there is known a hybrid vehicle that includes an internal combustion engine connected to an axle via a planetary gear mechanism, a generator connected to the planetary gear mechanism, and a motor connected to the axle via a transmission having two hydraulic brakes (for example, refer to Japanese patent laid-open publication No. 2005-306238). In the hybrid vehicle, when a start of the internal combustion engine is instructed while a shift position is set to a neutral position (N range) and inverters for the generator and the motor are shut down, the start of the internal combustion engine is prohibited until a vehicle speed becomes value “0” if the vehicle speed is not value “0”. If the vehicle speed is value “0”, the axle is locked by the two hydraulic brakes of the transmission and the shutdown of the inverters are released, then the internal combustion engine is started through a cranking by the generator. Thus, the two hydraulic brakes receive a reaction force acting on the axle while cranking the internal combustion engine by the generator, so that a shock due to the start of the internal combustion engine may be reduced even if an output of the motor is limited.
In the above hybrid vehicle, drivers may intentionally or accidentally depress an accelerator pedal or change the shift position from the neutral position to a drive position (D range and the like) while depressing the accelerator pedal when the shift position is set to the neutral position. However, the above patent document does not disclose how to control the hybrid vehicle in these states.